"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. " Patience pays off in the end for Jimmy Fallon who takes over for Jay Leno starting Monday night. Having saved the Emmys after their disastrous "let's get the reality hosts to run the show" decision and emerged unscathed from that ugly business between Leno and Conan O'Brien, Fallon reminds performers everywhere that waiting in the wings is not always a bad strategy. Also understanding social media helps a lot too. Although Fallon often seems in danger of out-nice-ing even Ellen DeGeneres, he did move the show back to New York and add "starring.

After the coffee. Before getting into the Olympic spirit. The Skinny: I typically haven't been much of an Olympics guy but I will give it a shot. But if I'm not hooked, I guess I can use the next two weeks to catch up on everything I'm supposed to watch. Friday's roundup includes the weekend box office preview, reviews of Jay Leno's final show and, of course, Olympic stories. By the way, I'm watching Leno's final show on my computer while I type this. Technology is something, isn't it?

Jay Leno went out with a bang. According to preliminary Nielsen numbers, 14.6 million people watched Leno hang it up as host of NBC's "Tonight Show. " It was the biggest audience Leno has had in more than 15 years. The last time "The Tonight Show" averaged more viewers was the night of the "Seinfeld" series finale in May, 1998. That episode, which featured Jerry Seinfeld as a guest, brought in nearly 15 million people. PHOTOS: Jay Leno's career in pictures It was Leno's fourth-largest "Tonight Show" audience ever.

Thursday night, for the second time, Jay Leno resigned his commission on "The Tonight Show," which he had captained from 1992, with time off for Conan O'Brien. A victim of time, of corporate self-interest and the phenomenon that is his successor, Jimmy Fallon, he left this time without a fight. He went gently out of that late night. There are two ways, roughly speaking, to face the end of the world. You go crazy and forget the rules - or you do what you always have done, show up for work, cook the dinner, clean the house. PHOTOS: A day on set with Jay Leno There was a moderate amount of crazy over the course of Leno's last hour, but it was mostly business as usual, with old friends, talking about old times, on familiar ground, telling the same kinds of jokes about the expected subjects.

Thursday night is the end for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. " After 22 years, the 63-year-old host is leaving NBC's legendary late-night talk show and handing over the reins to Jimmy Fallon. The Times recently spoke with Leno backstage at "Tonight" about his departure, his thoughts on comedy and the Conan O'Brien fiasco of four years ago, and what he'll do next. Here are some excerpts from the conversation: You've said that leaving "Tonight" now feels "about right. " But I can't imagine you're happy.

One more week to go under the Jay Leno regime on "The Tonight Show" and the new guy, Jimmy Fallon, hopped a cross-country flight to pay his respects at the show's soon-to-be-former Burbank home. Despite the apparent awkwardness of Leno - who would rather continue hosting the show if he had a say - chatting with the man who took his job, it seemed Fallon and Leno got along well enough. Though Leno couldn't help but get in a few digs at his boyish successor. Leno started the digs early in his monologue, telling the crowd, "He isn't here to talk.

Jay Leno steps down from his role as host of "The Tonight Show" on Thursday, a position he has held almost continuously since 1992. He has more than 4,600 shows under his belt -- that's a lot of monologue jokes. Bill Clinton was one of the biggest target of those jokes. As far as politicians go, anyway. For celebrities, it was O.J. Simpson. Those findings were reported Tuesday in a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. Yes, those people sifted through 43,892 jokes told by Leno on "The Tonight Show" between May 25, 1992, and Jan. 24, 2014, and tallied them up. President Clinton, who was elected roughly six months into Leno's tenure on "The Tonight Show," is the all-time top joke target, with 4,607 jokes.

The sign advertising his show still looms over the NBC parking lot, and for a few more days throngs of fans will crowd the studio gates in Burbank before tapings. But Jay Leno says he's ready to leave - and this time, he says he really means it. After more than 40 years, "The Tonight Show" is leaving Southern California and heading back to New York, with the 63-year-old Leno, who first became host in 1992, handing off the show to Jimmy Fallon, just 39. Four years have passed since NBC botched a similar passing of the torch to Conan O'Brien.

As "The Tonight Show" moves from its longtime Burbank home to New York City, where it originally debuted, 164 staffers will be laid off, an NBC spokesman confirmed on Friday. The layoffs, which were first reported in the Burbank Leader, involve primarily production-based jobs and were not a surprise. Last May, NBC announced that Leno would leave "The Tonight Show" after 22 years (minus a few months when Conan O'Brien hosted) and be replaced by the New York-based Jimmy Fallon. The week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics was picked to be Leno's final week on the show.

Magic Johnson torched his favorite team again, telling "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno on Monday night that the Lakers were in a bind largely because they had hired Coach Mike D'Antoni instead of Phil Jackson early last season. "He don't teach defense," Johnson said. "I can't stand to watch the Lakers play because the same play happens every single time on the Lakers - pick and roll and the guard goes all the way in for a layup. "What are we, 40-something games into the season?